From naked to furry, King Kong gets his features

So we had the awesome, rocked out styrofoam base for King Kong that Beth sculpted while she was here. After she left I was able to work that base magically into a thing of beauty - wait, this is KK we're talking about...hmmm, well I think he's very handsome!

The first thing I did was to sand him down a little around the edges to soften the shape up a bit, exaggerating it just a bit because icing would be filling the areas back up. After that, I started with his face. I used sugar paste to give him his features; his "skin", eye sockets, eyebrows/forehead, his nose, cheeks and mouth. The mouth, oh that mouth! I made him a tongue and some dentures and short little fangs. I even made some ears! So all of that went on first, applying and smoothing with my tools until I thought it was just right. Then I painted those parts. I love the tongue and mouth the best I think!















After painting his face I moved onto his hands and feet. I used a royal recipe with extra drying/hardening power and a small artist spatula to apply the icing on his extremities and then smoothed them with a dampened brush. I gave him the impression of toes and fingers and set him to dry a bit so I could handle him before moving on. I used a heat gun in between stages to dry him enough that I could handle him. I should say I used it sparingly...sugar does boil you know, even in icing form!











From then it was a matter of adding the "fur". Again, more royal and drying time. The icing was applied in a dab and lift motion to pull out the fur. The heat gun came in real handy here, very quickly I came to a point when I couldn't handle him much at all until he dried. All the while I kept "testing" the position of his bride in his arm to leave enough room to squeeze her in there later.













So there you have it, King Kong gettin' his fur on. Sweet!